Reports of jury verdicts and settlements can be of great value to those attempting to evaluate cases. Reports appear in a number of resources, describedbelow. Keep in mind that publishers of these resources rely on attorneys to submit information on the outcomes of their cases; there is no comprehensive resource. While these reports may also be useful for finding expert witnesses or determining the outcome of unpublished cases, this guide describes how library resources can be used to locate award and settlement amounts.
CALIFORNIA RESOURCES
O'Briens Evaluator KFC 57 .E93
Reports awards and settlements from Southern California. Published annually. Start with the Factual and Injuries indexes located under the Contents tab. These indexes will direct you to lists of case reports involving the type of case or injury of interest and the pages upon which they can be found.
Personal Injury Valuation Handbooks KFC 310 .J87
In addition to providing a system for determining an injury's value and analysis of trends in jury verdicts awards, this set reports verdict awards for personal injury cases from around the country. Use the index in Volume 1 to determine where cases involving the injury type of interest are found.
Trials Digest KFC 57 .A7 5T7
Reports awards and settlements from California cases. Published monthly, except for a combined January/February issue. Use the indexes to locate reports by type of case or type of injury. Check the annual indexes as well as the index in each issue more recent than the last annual index. Make sure to read the information on using the indexes on the first page of the annual index.
Electronic Access: On the law library computers, using Westlaw.
VerdictSearch (formerly Jury Verdicts Weekly) KFC 57 .J88
Reports awards and settlements from California cases. Published weekly except for the first weeks of July and September and the last weeks of November and December. Check the semiannual indexes as well as the index in each issue more recent than the last semiannual index.
NATIONAL RESOURCES
Stein on Personal Injury Damages KF 446 .F7
Volumes four and five of this set include reports of awards in personal injury cases from around the country. Reports are organized by injury type. There is an occupational injury index and a punitive damages index to the reports in volume five.
VerdictSearch Employment Law KF 3302 .V47
Reports awards and settlements from cases involving employment-related causes of action, such as wrongful termination, breach of contract, and age discrimination. Scan the tables of contents and indexes of each issue to find reports of interest
WEBSITES
MoreLaw.com www.morelaw.comLook for Verdicts and Decisions. This website allows keyword or subject searching.
VerdictSearchhttp://www.verdictsearch.com VerdictSearch.com gives users access to their database of over 150,000 detailed case reports from around the nation. Perform a text search or use 15 separate search criteria, including injury, case type, name, jurisdiction, and expert. By subscription only.
Zimmerman's Research Guide "Verdicts and Settlements"
http://www.lexisnexis.com/infopro/zimmerman/disp.aspx?z=2093 Zimmerman's is an online encyclopedia for legal researchers.
updated 09/10 rmm